Equipment
How often do you make GIR?
Hitting a green in regulation, no matter your ability, is always a fantastic feeling. Striking the ball just as you wanted and watching it sail down to land on the short grass knowing you have a birdie putt to look forward to feels like golf as it’s meant to be played.
Think back to last round of golf you played. We know most of our readers are weekly golfers, so hopefully it wasn’t too long ago. How many greens in regulation do you think you made on that particular round? Is it something you take notice of?
Today we want to take a look at the Green in Regulation (GIR) data collected from a wide range of players, from tour pros right through to high handicap players to help you consider how your own performance weighs up.
What does the data tell us?
First let’s take a look at how the pros perform. If we asked you how many GIR you thought the best players on tour made per round, you may well think 15 or 16. Surely at that level players must be hitting the greens pretty regularly? What if we told you that on any given tournament round, pros are making GIR only 66% of the time.
Having consulted trusted Shot Scope data, GolfMonthly.com found that Tour pros regularly hit 12 out of 18 greens while mid-teen handicap players only find 4 out of 18 greens on their approach shots.
Still, being able to hit 2/3rds of all greens on your approach shot is no small feat, and it demonstrates how great the pros are at scrambling around the greens. How does that make you feel about your own game? It should make it feel all the more of an achievement when you do make GIR!
Now that we’ve established how often players of differing handicaps make landing the greens on their approach shots, we want to dig a little deeper. When you happen to miss the green, do you feel you’re more likely to over or under hit the green? Are you more prone to missing it to the left or the right?
Shot Scope themselves found that according to data taken from players who have faced a 150yard approach shot, the most common means of missing the green was hitting it to the front right of the green:
There are multiple reasons why players might miss their approach shot to the left or right of the green. Not only may you not know your distance to the green, you may not know the gap between each of your clubs. For example, if you knew you hit your 3 wood 210 yards and your 7 iron 140 yards, do you know which long iron you’d take for a 168-yard approach shot?
We offer gapping sessions in the pro shop whereby we take you on the range, have you strike each club in the bag, and record the range of distances you strike each one. It’s a hugely beneficial experience that will help reduce the inconsistency in your game and have you selecting your club with more confidence ahead of each and every shot you take.
Going back to the graph above, Shot Scope also found that the closer we get to the green, the more chance we have of successfully landing our approach shots. So, what does all this data tell us?
Essentially, the lower your handicap is, the more likely you are to make GIR. The more greens in regulation you land, the more likely you are to score well on any given hole.
We're here for you
As we’ve been saying throughout, we’re here to help you play your best, and both custom fitting and gapping sessions will set you on the right path to playing better, more enjoyable golf.
The data tells us that finding more GIR is the key to cutting your handicap, and you’ll strike the ball better with more accuracy if you’re equipped with the right irons in the bag and you know each of their relative strike distances. If you’re unsure of which clubs may be right for you, we have an excellent recommendation…
The latest TaylorMade irons
Here in the pro shop, we’re always available to help you get the most out of your game. If you want to land more greens this season, the latest TaylorMade Qi Max and P-Series irons will help you get the job done.
The P770 are not only among the best-looking irons on the market, they get you the results you’re after too. This club features precision-milled grooves on the face to give you high launch and workable spin, and the club’s internal weighting has been optimised for more consistent ball striking. The longer irons have been engineered for a low launch while the scoring irons provide excellent control.
A slightly more forgiving version of its brother, the P790 has a low CG that improves launch, making these clubs excellent for players seeking more height in their strikes. The P790 has been designed to give the player an endearing feel when impacting the ball, and the face offers a precise, forgiving sweet spot.
The stunning Qi Max iron is designed to blend the aesthetics of a premium iron with the extreme forgiveness of a game-improvement club. The result is an iron that looks sleek from all angles and each time you see it sat in your bag, you’ll want to pick it up and admire the clubhead.
TaylorMade has constructed this iron’s face to bring you long distance on all strikes, and the inclusion of the ECHO Damping System ensures a soft, refined feel by eliminating harsh vibrations at impact. It’s the perfect choice for mid-to-high handicap players who want a sleeker look without sacrificing the stability of a wide-sole iron.
Featuring a lot of the same great tech that’s in the standard Qi Max, the HL model (High Launch) is an oversized model intended for novice players who want to build up their confidence and gain more height on their iron shots.
If you’re ever in need of coaching or you fancy adding some new clubs to the bag, we’re always happy to help you with your golfing needs in the pro shop.
